Siltification of Caspian and Volga-Don Waterway Threatens Not Only Transportation but People along Their Shores and Beyond

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Mar. 20 – The impact of siltification and declining water levels on the Caspian and along the Volga-Don route on trade and Moscow’s ability to move ships from its Caspian Flotilla to the Sea of Azov as part of its war effort against Ukraine has attracted much attention (amestown.org/program/declining-caspian-water-levels-threaten-russian-and-chinese-corridor-plans/).
    But the impact of this trend on the population along these waterways has not. That is now changing because declining water levels are reducing agricultural and industrial production and even leading to shortages of potable water for residents (moscowtimes.ru/2025/03/20/rossiiskim-regionam-grozit-zasuha-iz-za-obmeleniya-volgi-i-dona-a158648).
    Russian environmental activists are expressing hopes that this is a short term development, the result of the unusually warm winter just passed; but they also warn that there are long term trends behind these shortages and argue that the Russian authorities must  address them or face serious economic and even demographic consequences (t.me/mash/62465).
    If Moscow does not do so, they suggest, there could be a humanitarian disaster of immense proportions, one that would spread over far more of Russia than just the littorals involved. That is because water shortages there could lead to a collapse of several kinds of food supplies.